What I’m Growing - Part I - Things I Start Ahead
Sharon February 24th, 2008
I thought it would be fun to talk about favorite plant varieties. When I get sick of winter, I start seeds - there’s something so magical about the process. And one of my favorite projects is choosing varieties. Perhaps some of what I grow will be useful to you. This is going to be long - I like a lot of plants, and so I’m doing it in pieces as I get around to it. The first one will focus on tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, ground cherries and tomatillos, among the first things that I start indoors. I actually start much, much more than this, but one thing at a time.
BTW, as we discuss this, we should probably note locations and what your garden is like - the plants I have success with in my cool, wet, heavy soil in upstate NY might not suit your arid, cold high plains garden or your humid, warm midwestern loam, and vice-versa. Still, almost anything is worth a shot!
First, there are tomatoes. Everyone loves tomatoes, and discussing tomato varieties is one of those things that no gardener can get enough of. I have quite a few favorites - I could never choose one or two.
My favorite OP (open pollinated, that means not a hybrid) cherry tomato is right now is a variety I tried for the first time last year, “Black Cherry” - I’ve always liked black tomatoes, and this one has the rich flavor of a large black tomato in a prolific cherry.
I’ll admit, my favorite cherry tomato of all time is Sungold, a hybrid. Baker Creek Heirlooms www.rareseeds.com was offering a dehybridized version of this for a while, and I grew it, but it was definitely inferior to the tropical taste of the original. But sooner or later someone will create a good dehybridized version, and in the meantime, I love it and so do my customers. For containers, I was growing “Red Robin” which is good (although I got a batch from Tomato Growers Supply that was *terrible* so not all strains are equal), but I’m even more excited by “Balconi Yellow” from Thompson and Morgan which tastes really good.
I don’t grow grape tomatoes - most are hybrids, and I’ve usually found them inferior to cherries. Anyone found a non-hybrid grape tomato worth growing? My CSA customers asked for them last year.
The best early tomato I’ve grown hands down is Glacier - I don’t bother with anything else at this point. Not quite as early, but slightly better tasting is _Cosmonaut Volkov_ - generally my goal is to have potted tomatoes by June 10, and my first decent sized tomato by July 4, which is pretty good in our climate. I start these in February, along with a few sweet and hot peppers. I don’t always succeed - this year I was running late on my seed starting - but I usually make my July 4 goal.
Ok, big tomatoes. My favorite multicolor is pineapple - I got my seed from Pinetree seeds www.superseeds.com - it is a wonderful tasting tomato, and I’m wildly in love with it. My favorite big red is Costoluto Genovese - weird crinkly, terrific flavor. Smaller tomatoes I’m fond of are “Rose de Berne” “Jaune Flamee” and “Red Bobs.” (That last is a great container tomato - and I’m excited to try “Paul Robeson” this year in containers, after they were praised by Pat Meadows). Of the Brandywines I’ve tried, I like the “Black Brandywine” quit a lot although it doesn’t yield spectacularly for me.
Finally, pastes. Polish Linguica and Opalka are the best in my garden, without a doubt, although Orange Banana is very popular here - the kids thing bright orange tomato sauce is a kick.
Ok on to peppers - it is very hard to get peppers to ripen fully in my climate. I’m up at about 1400 feet, and in a cool region, and summer nights are routinely in the 50s - and sometimes in the 40s. Peppers really don’t like cool nights, and most of the ones that mature best are hybrids. I’ve been growing some because of the customers, but this year I’m going to try and restrict myself entirely to OP peppers.
Ace hybrid has been a reliable, reasonably early red turner here, as has Jupiter and Sunbell. King of the North is my favorite OP, which I get from Fedco. Albino Bullnose, a very old heirloom has also done well here, so these will probably be my main crop peppers. I’m also going to try using my pop-up greenhouses this year over some peppers and melons to retain night heat and give them the warm temps they like. Perhaps I’ll even be able to get the super-hot habaneros I love so much, but can’t mature here. Growing in containers is also important for us - because the containers get warmer than the soil in the summer, peppers mature faster and better. “Fish” hot pepper is a stunning container plant, and a delicious pepper.
Eggplants, oddly aren’t nearly as much of a problem for me as peppers. I have no idea why - so many people have it the other way around. The only hybrid I bother with is a mini-variety called “fairy tale” which grows in containers. Eggplants in containers are more prolific and earlier for me than in the ground. In the ground, I’ve done very well with “Lousiana Long Green” (lovely flavor) Rosa Bianca, and Italian White.
We love tomatillos here, and eat a ton of salsa verde both fresh and canned, and I mostly grow the common green variety. But I tried “Purple de Milpa” last year, and really liked it - it was a bit sweeter and more complex. Tomatillos and Ground Cherries are no fuss crops - plant ‘em, ignore ‘em, harvest ‘em. Both are so prolific that I just don’t bother thinking much about them. I like straight Ground Cherry jam pretty well, but my family mixed ground cherries with fall raspberries, about 50-50 last year, for something truly transcendent. Not only is it good jam, but it tastes really good with meats, and a little less sweet would make a great ketchup - something to try next year.
Ok, more soon - greens and lettuces! Boy will that take a while!
Shalom.
Sharon